 Zariski closure

The Zariski closure of a subset $S$ of an algebraic variety or a scheme is the smallest Zariski-closed subset containing $S$. For $S\subseteq k^n$, define the ideal $I(S)$ of all polynomials vanishing on $S$. ThenThis description follows because an intersection of polynomial zero sets is again the common zero set of their equations.^[ref]

Every infinite subset of the complex affine line is Zariski dense: a nonzero one-variable polynomial has only finitely many roots of a polynomial. Thus $S=\{1,1/2,1/3,\dots \}$ has Zariski closure all of $\mathbb{C}$, although its closure in the ordinary Euclidean topology is only $S\cup \{0\}$. In algebraic geometry, taking a closure retains all polynomial consequences, rather than all ordinary sequential limits.